Retirement Diaries 2024: Back in Minnesota

After three weeks in Washington and Oregon, I’m back in Minnesota.  I had so much fun, seeing friends, visiting my favorite places, and getting in plenty of beach time. 

The weather is so much better than when I left!  Instead of lows of 7 degrees and snow on the ground, the weather has been mostly sunny and in the 50s and 60s since I got back.  Until today at least; it’s raining now and it is supposed to rain off and on until Monday.  There are worse things in life.

The grass is green from the recent rains, and once the rain stops I’m going to be getting out into the yard to work on pruning and trimming back the dead foliage.  The lilac bushes are starting to leaf out, so there will soon be the sweet smell of lilacs blooming!

Cora and Yellow were of course happy to see me, and have forgiven me for being away.  It is so nice to see how bonded they are; they regularly snuggle and sleep in the same puff, even though they have lots of options.  At the moment, I can hear Yellow snoring in the other room; they really have a good life!

Mom was kind enough to think of me when she went to the library book sale for the next town up the road, and she got me some books on the Civil War.  She’s always so thoughtful!  There is also an upcoming book sale at our town library, so I’ll be helping move books from storage next week to get ready for it.  I’ll be considered the young person with the strong back among the other volunteers I’m sure.  It reminds me of helping mom to purge her books before the move last year.  That was a lot of boxes of books!

On my way home from Washington, I spent a couple of days on the Oregon coast, camping, looking for agates and just enjoying the beach.  I did get rained on a little, but it was pretty good weather for the most part!  After I left the coast, I spent a few days getting home, doing a little bit of sightseeing on the way.  A winery along the Columbia River Gorge, and a few museums in Montana and North Dakota.  After leaving Oregon, it got too cold for camping, so I splurged on a few nights of hotels.

Along the way I had a few lovely chats with people I met on the beach, at the winery, or in the restaurant bars – I like sitting at the bar when I’m dining alone, it just invites more social interaction.

Of course, now that I’m back I’ll be able to write more regularly again.  Not much driving to interfere with my downtime!

I hope everyone is well – and enjoying spring!

Lassen Volcanic National Park Getaway

Sunday, July 14, 2019 to Tuesday, July 16, 2019
Lassen Volcanic National Park, Shingletown, California

During the summer of 2019 I headed back down to California to go to Lassen Volcanic National Park.  It had been on my bucket list for a while, but I was able to score a reservation at one of the cabins in the Manzanita Campground in the park.  A trip was born!

We headed to Lassen on Sunday morning, from Weed, California; the drive was a little less than 2 hours and the weather was beautiful!  Once we were in the park, we checked out the Loomis Museum at the north end of the park.  The museum has exhibits on the types of volcanoes in the park, the eruption in 1915, and the animals in the park.  It was a relaxed afternoon, just checking things out.  The kids got Junior Ranger booklets to fill out to get their Junior Ranger badges.

Lassen Peak

We checked in to the Manzanita Campground, the park’s largest campground.  The first night, we had a tent site.  The sites are large and open, you can see all your neighbors, and tents and RVs are largely mixed together.  It is a great campground; it was warm during the day, but it did get cold at night.  Maybe best of all, the bugs weren’t bothersome!  We checked out Manzanita Lake; one day it would be fun to canoe or stand-up-paddleboard on the lake.  The lake is right on the edge of the campground.

The campground also has a general store, with souvenirs, grocery items, ice cream and even beer and wine.  I got a t-shirt, an enamel mug and a bottle of wine to share.  The wine is long gone, but I still have the shirt and the mug!  That evening we made steak and corn on the cob over the fire, and had smores too!  It was a wonderful, peaceful evening around the fire, chatting and watching the crackling fire.

Saturday morning dawned sunny and bright, and we made breakfast on the camp stove.  We didn’t want to dawdle, so there would be plenty of time for exploring!

We decided to start at the south end of the park and work our way back up to the north end, where the campground is located.  We started at the Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center and checked out the exhibits, and of course I got my Passport stamp!

We checked out the thermal features and walked part of the boardwalk.  Unfortunately, the boardwalk that goes to Bumpass Hell (yes, that is actually the name) was closed for trail rehabilitation when we were there.  I will have to go back to see it!  There are mudpots, where boiling mud bubbles and lets off steam.  It isn’t as spectacular as the geysers of Yellowstone National Park, but it is still a cool natural feature to check out!

Lassen Boardwalk

Lassen Mudpots

Me Lassen National Park

I loved all the Bristlecone pine trees that were growing in the area, and we stopped at a couple of overlooks and trailheads to check out the views and the landscape.

Lassen Volcanic National Park

We wanted to do a hike, but not one that was too difficult, so we hiked the King’s Creek Trail.  This trail is 2.3 miles round trip, although you can connect with other trails for a much longer hike.  Although the hike starts at approximately 7,300 feet in elevation, the trail itself has about 700 feet of elevation change over the course of the trail.  This is one that starts by going down, so you have to go back up a little at the end!  All that said, it is a beautiful hike, through grassy meadows with a creek crossing over a log bridge.

King’s Creek

King’s Creek Meadow

Lassen NP

The trail takes you down a hill, and the waterfall is right next to the trail, giving you nice views of the cascade.  It’s beautiful!

King’s Creek Falls

That evening, we had a reservation for a one bedroom camping cabin.  The bedroom had two twin bunk beds, and the outer room had a queen futon.  So the cabin could sleep six!  There was also a table and two chairs, a heater/AC unit and a lantern.  It was a nice setup! 

That evening we had another nice meal over the campfire, and enjoyed sitting around the fire talking and drinking wine.  It was peaceful, and quieter in the cabin section of the campground.

Lassen Cabin

 

Lassen Chipmunk

The last morning that we were there we went to an interpretive talk about the pioneers who traveled through what is now the park to reach the lush farmland in Western California.  The rangers spoke about the pioneers methods of transportation, how to cook over a fire, and what it was like to travel so many miles in a covered wagon.  The kids finished their booklets and earned their Junior Ranger badges. 

We did a little more hiking, and checked out the huge rocks near the trail.  It was a wonderful end to a nice trip.  One day I’ll make it back to Lassen to check out more of the park.

 

 

 

 

Lassen Volcanic NP History

Lassen Volcanic National Park is located in northern California, and its mountains are part of the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest.  This park is unique in that it is one of the few places in the world where visitors can see all four types of volcanoes; Composite Volcanoes, Lava Domes, Cinder Cones and Shield Volcanoes.  Lassen Peak, the mountain for which the park is named, is the largest plug dome volcano in the world (plug domes are a type of lava dome).  The park also contains thermal features similar to those made famous by Yellowstone National Park, including mudpots and fumaroles.

Lassen Volcanic National Park

Human habitation in the area began thousands of years ago, and four tribes lived and traveled in areas of the park.  The Atsugewi, Yana, Yahi and Mountain Maidu all made use of park areas seasonally for hunting and gathering.  They continue to use these areas today to preserve traditions and celebrate their history.  White settlers first entered the area in the 1830s, and Peter Lassen, a Danish blacksmith, settled in the area.  The Nobles Emigrant Trail then was established through the park area, leading settlers to the Sacramento Valley further west.

Lassen’s claim to fame is that it is one of the few volcanoes in the United States to have erupted in recent history.  Lassen Peak began erupting in 1914, and continued off and on with eruptions both large and small until 1921. Thankfully, monitoring of the volcano had already begun and people living in the area had a warning prior to the eruption.  No one was injured or killed, although some homes and buildings were destroyed.  Prior to that, the most recent eruption in the park was the Cinder Cone, which erupted between 1630 and 1670 (mostly likely 1666, according to tree ring analysis).  The area had been designated as a Forest Preserve in the late 1800s, and then Lassen Peak and Cinder Cone were designated as two separate National Monuments in 1907.  The eruption led to the park’s designation as a National Park on August 9, 1916 by President Woodrow Wilson.

Today the park has a lot to see and do; visitors can hike, snowshoe and ski in the winter, camp, and see wildlife.  There are hiking trails up the mountains, in the wilderness, past waterfalls, and boardwalks built around the thermal features.  Manzanita Lake in the northern section of the park has a large campground, a museum and a store.  The southern section of the park has a fairly new Visitor’s Center.  Sadly, some areas of the park were significantly damaged by a fire in 2021, but many sections of the park have reopened since that time.

I spent three days and two nights camping there in 2019; one night in a tent and one in a camping cabin.  I had a great time, and will tell you about my visit next!

Lassen NP

 

Circus Trip 2018: Yosemite NP

Day 90, Saturday, October 13, 2018
Yosemite National Park, Mariposa, California

I’ll say right up front that I need to see more of Yosemite.  My visit was too short, and too emotional to really do justice to it.

That morning I woke up in Bridgeport, California at my campsite at the little marina there.  It was cold (about 17 degrees or so), so I decided to get breakfast out, and went to the Bridgeport Inn for corned beef hash and coffee.  I’m not ordinarily a coffee drinker but I needed a warmup that day!  The Inn was built in 1877 as the Leavitt House, and has a hotel, restaurant and bar.  Mark Twain stayed here at some point.  The food was good, and warmed me up, but soon it was time to get on my way.

I headed west over Tioga Pass and soon was in the line to enter Yosemite Park.  I was so excited to see it!  This is one of the National Parks that has been on my bucket list for a while.

Sadly, when I headed into the park, I started to feel a heavy weight in my heart.  I had long wanted to visit Yosemite, but it had been a dream I had with my ex-husband when we were married.  In fact, when we separated, we had a trip planned to Yosemite, and I ended up canceling.  He went with his dad, and I didn’t go, because we were having so many problems.  We ended our marriage shortly after that.  I always thought it would feel amazing to finally visit, but it was quite the opposite.  It was like all the grief I had been holding in for a few years at that point finally came tumbling out.

I parked at a lake on the pass and sat next to the beautiful water.  People were all around, but no one really noticed me.  I sobbed.  I thought maybe once I had it out of my system, I could go on, but I kept starting to cry again after that first time.  I finally decided I wasn’t ready for Yosemite that day.  I didn’t go into the valley, or do much more than just drive through the park, sitting in my sadness.

I did get a stamp and a few postcards to commemorate the parts of the park that I did see, but I definitely need a do over.  It has now been almost 7 years since my divorce was final, which will be longer than I was married.  I think I’m ready now.

So after leaving Yosemite that day, I headed up to northern California to see the man I was dating at the time.  That relationship didn’t work out either, but for reasons unrelated to Yosemite.  That’s a long, sad story for another time, if I’m ever ready to tell it. 

I suppose I could call this day the last day of my big road trip, even though I spent close to a month in Northern California before I finally headed home to Washington.  But I wasn’t traveling all the time anymore, so it seemed the trip was at an end.  I saw parts of Northern California that I had never been to, but I also just relaxed.

All in all, I spent several months on the road that summer and fall.  If you remember back, I left home on July 16, and got back home on November 12, 2018.  It was the trip of a lifetime, and one that I would love to do again with a different itinerary.  It was exhilarating and fun, and sometimes sad and lonely.  I learned so much about bravery and courage, and feeling comfortable in my own skin.  I healed, and learned how to be alone.  It was everything I needed at the time. 

Now, 5 years later, I’m at at different place.  I’m retired, with the ability to pack up and take a trip when the mood strikes me.  And I do.  Life isn’t perfect, and I still have stories of sadness and hardship that I’m not quite ready to tell.  But life for the most part is good.  I have other tales to tell, and other road trips to take, and memories to make.  I hope you will continue to follow along.

 

Circus Trip 2018: Mono Lake

Day 89, Friday, October 12, 2018
Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve, Lee Vining, California

After I visited Bodie, I wanted to see the tufa formations at Mono Lake.  If you have never heard of tufa towers, you are in for a treat!

In Mono Lake, there are freshwater springs beneath the surface of the lake that are rich in calcium.  This calcium rich spring water mixes with the lake water, which contains carbonates.  When the two combine, a chemical reaction creates calcium carbonate, otherwise known as limestone.  Around the springs, the calcium carbonate becomes a solid, and over decades, forms a tower of limestone under the water.  So how are they visible at Mono Lake?

In 1941, water diversions began by the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power, and the water levels in the lake fell dramatically.  The tufa towers have been exposed since that time; they no longer grow, and are now slowly eroding away.  Mono Lake is one of the unique places where these tufa towers can be seen!

The South Tufa Trail is about a mile long; it gave me a close up, spectacular view of these tufa towers.  They were so cool to see!  I stayed as the sun lowered in the sky, and captured some nice photos.  I also got to see big flocks of Yellow Headed Blackbirds and a few ducks.

 

On my way to camp for the night, I stopped to see the Mono Lake Historical Society Musuem, which is housed in the old Mono Lake Schoolhouse, and the Upside Down House, which was built by Nellie Bly O’Bryan.  Nellie Bly O’Bryan, not to be confused with the journalist Nellie Bly, was a silent film actress in the 1920s and 1930s.  After retiring from film in 1934, she moved to the Mono Lake area and became a State of California licensed mountain guide.  She also owned and operated a resort on Lundy Lake, near the east entrance of Yosemite National Park.  She built the Upside Down House by hand as a tourist attraction, where everything in the house is just that – upside down. 

Unfortunately, both the museum and house were both closed for the day (and probably season?), so I had to be content with taking photos outside in the fading light.  I would like to visit when they are open someday! 

That night I camped at a little marina that also had campsites.  It was $20 for the night, and had a beautiful view of the water in Bridgeport, California.  The only drawback was that it was COLD!  It got down to about 17 degrees that night!  But I was snug as a bug once I was layered up under all my blankets in the car bed.  That was the coldest night of my entire trip!

 

Circus Trip 2018: Death Valley National Park

Day 87 & 88, Wednesday & Thursday, October 10 & 11, 2018
Death Valley National Park, Death Valley, California

I arrived at Death Valley National Park in the evening, and got a campsite at the Oasis Resort Campground.  Now, you should know that the Oasis Resort looked like an actual resort, with nice lodging and green, watered grass and a golf course.  The campground was, let’s just say, not an oasis.  It was basically a gravel parking lot, with a bizarre unisex portable bathroom (it wasn’t actually designed to be unisex, and rather was just a regular portable bathroom building that they let anyone into – UGH).  I hope they have fixed that bathroom issue by now, but that’s a story for another time.  However, for $15 a night the campground had one perk that was amazing!  The spring fed pool for the resort, with entrance included with your campground stay.  That pool was amazing!

I soaked for several hours that night in that pool.  It was a warm night, the water was warm and the dark skies made for an incredible view of the stars.  I just floated, watched the stars, and listened to the conversations going on around me.  It was one of the most incredible nights of my trip, just watching the stars from that warm swimming pool, and I would go back there just for that pool! Pictures won’t do it justice.

The next morning, I got up and wandered around the Oasis area of the park.  I had breakfast at the cafe, which seemed more like a cafeteria – the food was fine but nothing spectacular.  I checked out the equipment outside of the Borax Museum, but didn’t get to go inside because it didn’t open until 10 am.  One day I’ll get back there.  Then I went to the Visitor’s Center at Furnace Creek, got my passport stamp and postcards and headed out into the day.  I didn’t spend too much time there, as I wanted to do my sightseeing before it got too hot.

Badwater Basin

Badwater Basin is the lowest point in the United States, at 282 feet below sea level.  I walked out to the salt flats, and marveled at the fact that the walk was longer than it looked.  Keep that in mind if you walk out there on a hot day.  The salt dries into a honeycomb pattern, and it looks really neat, so I occupied myself with plenty of photos.  I was surprised that there were birds flitting about the saltwater pond.

Artist’s Palette Scenic Drive

The Artist’s Palette scenic drive was pretty, but it hadn’t rained recently when I visited, so the colors weren’t popping the way they do when the ground is wet.  Iron oxide and chlorites give the layers their bright colors.  I got out at the viewpoints and took photos and appreciated the scenery.  It was surprisingly not very busy, but they do say that sunrise and sunset offer the best times to view the colors here.

Zabriskie Point

The Zabriskie Point viewpoint was a bit more crowded with people checking out the surreal layered landscape.  It was named for Christian Zabriskie, one of the prominent men in the Pacific Coast Borax Company.  The largest peak of the landscape here is Manly Beacon, named for one of the gold rush prospectors who came through the area during the California Gold Rush; it rises 823 feet from the canyon floor.  You will probably recognize this view, parts of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi were filmed here.  This is one of the best spots for sunset in the park if you go.

I drove back to the Visitor’s Center as I was passing by and checked out the park movie.  It was interesting, as it showed the perspective of the Native Americans who had traveled and lived here historically.

Harmony Borax Works

Then I headed to see an old borax mining operation – fascinating!  The Harmony Borax Works was started in late 1883, and at its peak employed about 40 mostly Chinese workers.  It was a difficult operation, requiring extracting the sodium borate from the ore.  The ore was dumped into boiling water vats and carbonated soda was added, which made the borax dissolve and the lime and mud settle out.  Then the dissolved borax was moved into cooling vats, where it resolidified and crystallized on rods.  The finished borax was hauled by mule teams on a 165 mile, 10 day trip to Mojave, California.

On the 0.4 mile hike around the borax works, there was an old building where borax was extracted, old mining equipment, and a 20-mule team wagon.  That was so cool to see!  My mom has a Borax 20-mule team wagon model that my parents got before I was born.  It used to sit on my dad’s workbench when I was growing up, and I love looking at it.  It was neat to finally see the place where this model got its start.  I’ll have to get her to dig it out, so it can be displayed once more!

Sand Dunes

The last place I visited that day was the sand dunes.  The signs advertised that sidewinder rattlesnakes live here, but sadly I didn’t see any!  They do burrow underground to escape the hottest temperatures, and are often nocturnal to avoid the daytime heat.  I was fascinated by the fact that this park has so many different ecosystems within its boundaries.

Death Valley was an interesting place.  It doesn’t rank near the top of my favorite National Parks, due to its desolation and heat, but there are still places here that I would like to return to see.  I had to get on my way, and check out Eastern California!

Circus Trip 2018: Valley of Fire State Park

Day 87, Wednesday, October 10, 2018
Valley of Fire State Park, Overton, Nevada

On October 10, 2018, I was in four different states!  I woke up near Zion National Park in Nevada, crossed into Arizona for a hot minute, saw Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada, and then ended my day in California!  What a whirlwind!  I headed out from my campground about 8:30 after packing up my tent and taking a shower.  My destination that day was Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada.  I got there a little after 9 am, thanks to gaining an hour in a time zone change.

 

Once I arrived, I did the Elephant Rock hike.  It is 1.2 miles through some really cool rock formations, and it was surprisingly empty, I only passed a few other people on the entire hike.  The feature here is obviously Elephant Rock, which I found to be difficult to identify unless you were standing at the perfect angle.  Not all of them can be easy I guess.  Luckily there was a sign! Hint: The first photo below is NOT it!

I drove through parts of the park, checking out the viewpoints along the way.  I saw petrified logs, and a Memorial to a man who died while traveling through the area.  Sergeant John J. Clark was born in 1844 and enlisted in the NY Infantry and served in the U.S. Civil War until he was shot in the hand and contracted typhoid fever.  After he was honorably discharged he moved to Southern California.  In 1915, he was traveling from California to Salt Lake City with a horse and a buckboard wagon, when he apparently got into trouble.  He tied his horse to the back of the wagon, wandered around, then crawled underneath his wagon where he died.  His body was found several days later on June 30, 1915.  It was a reminder to always be prepared for the harsh conditions of the desert.

The cabins were stone buildings built for tourists in the 1930s; there were approximately 9000 tourists annually at that time!  They are neat stone buildings, and there is a beautiful petroglyph panel on the stone face behind the cabins.

Next I went to the Visitor’s Center.  I checked out the exhibits, got some postcards, and planned where I was headed next.  They had a few native snakes and a chuckwalla in their exhibit there; they were neat to see, especially since I didn’t see any while I was out hiking.  Outside, there is a Balanced Rock, so of course I snagged a photo with it.  And guess who I ran into on the way out!?  Carol!  If you remember, I met Carol at Mesa Verde National Park, and spent an evening chatting with her when we both camped at Hovenweep!  Now we met up again purely by accident! 

We decided to go for a hike together, so we drove out the White Dome Road to the Fire Wave trailhead.  The Fire Wave hike was incredible – the colors were amazing!  The hike went out and back to a rock formation with sedimentary layers that looks like of like an ocean wave.  It is only 1.3 miles, so it is a popular hike, but for good reason!  Carol and I enjoyed ourselves chatting and taking pictures of each other.  It was a fun hike!  On the way back we were greeted by a herd of Bighorn Sheep too – I got some good pictures of them. 

 

When we got back from the hike, Carol and I said our goodbyes for a third time, and went our respective ways.  It is always fun to meet new friends when traveling! 

My time in Valley of Fire was far too short – one day I’ll return and do more of the hikes in the park.  It was a really cool place!  But I was heading to Death Valley National Park in California, so it was time to get on my way!

 

Bryce Canyon National Park History

Bryce Canyon National Park is located in southwest Utah, and preserves unique geological structures called hoodoos that formed in several natural amphitheaters along the eastern side of the Paunsaungunt Plateau.  The largest of the amphitheaters is Bryce Amphitheater, which is over 800 feet deep, twelve miles long and 3 miles wide.  The area is high in elevation, from 8,000 to 9,000 feet along the rim. 

Technically it isn’t a canyon, which are formed by erosion along the length a stream or river.  Instead, Bryce Canyon’s erosion was caused by headward erosion, which is erosion at the head of a stream or river that moves backwards, lengthening the stream.  At the same time, the sedimentary layers in the rock are softer underneath here, which causes faster erosion of the lower layers, leaving the pinnacle structures we call hoodoos.  Pretty cool isn’t it!?

The area’s human habitation is believed to have begun approximately 10,000 years ago, but no direct evidence has been found, and little is known about the people who traveled and perhaps lived here.  The Basketmaker Anasazi left artifacts in the area just south of the park, which are several thousand years old.  In about 1200 A.D., the Paiute people began to use the plateau for hunting and gathering, but are not believed to have established permanent settlements.

White men began traveling through the area in 1826, but it wasn’t until the 1870s that Mormon settlers moved in and established a few sparse settlements.  This area is remote now and would have been very remote back then.  Ebenezer Bryce and his family were some of the first Mormon settlers here.  He established his cattle ranch and farm at the base of Bryce Amphitheater, and he built a logging road into the amphitheaters to make it easier to harvest the timber.  His neighbors began calling it Bryce’s Canyon, and the name stuck, even though Bryce and his family moved to Arizona in 1880. It was a difficult life for these pioneers, who grazed sheep and cattle here, and had to contend with overgrazing of the area’s grasses, harsh winters and flash flooding.  It’s no surprise that it didn’t become a thriving metropolis.

In 1915, a Forest Service Supervisor named J.W. Humphrey was assigned to this area of Utah and he relocated to the nearby town of Panguitch.  Humphrey was stunned by the natural beauty of the hoodoos and sent photographs and movies to officials in Washington.  Magazine articles began appearing, featuring his photos.  Bryce Canyon began to get visitors! 

Concerns about overgrazing, timber depletion and the effects of tourism on the fragile hoodoos led to the establishment of Bryce Canyon National Monument by President Warren G. Harding in 1923.  Conservation efforts continued, land was acquired, and after a brief period where the park was renamed to Utah National Park, Bryce Canyon was officially created on February 25, 1928, by Congress, and President Calvin Coolidge. 

In 1930 the Zion-Mt. Carmel tunnel was completed, which made for a much easier route between Zion National Park, Cedar Breaks National Monument, and Bryce Canyon.  Some additional land was acquired in 1931 and 1942, bringing the park to its current size of 35,835 acres, one of the smaller National Parks.

Visitors to the park can drive the scenic rim road, stopping at 13 viewpoints in the park, which give views of the amphitheaters, hoodoos, and natural arches within the park.  The views are stunning.  There are also several hiking trails into the canyons, some of which intersect with each other.  In winter, visitors can ski and snowshoe.  There is also a nice campground! In 2022, 2,354,660 people visited the park. 

I visited Bryce Canyon in October 2018, and I will tell you about my visit in an upcoming post!

Retirement Diaries 2023: It’s Fall Y’all!

It’s Fall Everybody! Summer passed by in the blink of an eye, what with moving mom across the country, frantically unpacking things day after day at her house, and then heading back out to Washington and Oregon for some good times with friends.

After leaving Washington on September 7, I headed back down to Oregon as a jumping off point for my trip back to Minnesota.  I had about a week before I had to be back, in order to have a few days for the turnaround before mom and I were scheduled to head to Knoxville, Tennessee for a jewelry making workshop.  I had a great time on the way back, digging for thunder eggs in Eastern Oregon, spending time at John Day Fossil Beds, having lunch with my friend Kiera in Boise, Idaho, and visiting Virginia City and Nevada City in Montana, before finally doing a beeline for home.  Of course, I did make a stop in Eastern Montana to to hunt for agates on the Yellowstone River.  It was wonderful to be on the road, and I can’t wait for my next trip!  I will definitely post in more detail about my goings on…

I did a 3-day turnaround, arriving at my house on Thursday afternoon September 14, and then departing for Knoxville on Monday, September 18.  Mom badgered me into signing up for the jewelry workshop too, even though I consider myself to not really have a crafty/creative bone in my body.  We drove down, and it was two solid days of classes and peopling.  But, a bit surprisingly, I enjoyed it! I did six classes and made 5 pieces of jewelry.  The 6th I did not finish because we ran out of time, but everybody in class ran out of time too, so it wasn’t just me.  Mom will help me finish these earrings when I’m ready.

The drive to Knoxville was long, and if we do it again, I definitely want to take a few more days each way so we have time to do some sightseeing.  As it was, we didn’t really have much time for stops along the way.  We did happen to meet up with my cousin and her husband in Louisville, Kentucky, as they were heading home to Michigan after a trip to Texas and Louisiana.  It was a fortuitous coincidence and it was great to see them!  We even had a chance to try the famous Hot Brown at the Brown Hotel in Louisville.  I had Hot Brown once before on my 2018 trip, but had never tried it from the source, as The Brown Hotel “invented” the Hot Brown in the 1920s.

On the homefront, I find myself with a gloriously empty home, after two roommates moved out.  It’s so quiet and relaxing!  I’m working on cleaning up, rearranging, and unpacking things that I didn’t have the space to have out before.  It’s nice and I’m loving it. The oak trees are changing color and dropping their leaves, the feed corn fields are about to be harvested.  Cora and Yellow are loving having me home, and are adjusting to the moving furniture and flurry of rearranging and cleaning.  The only downside is that I feel like I’ve been fighting a cold for a couple days so I’ve been moving pretty slow and taking a couple of naps, but I feel like I’m on the upswing now.

And the best news is that now that I’m home, I’ll be able to write more regularly and get back to my travel posts!

How are you all enjoying the first week of fall?

 

 

Oregon Coast: August 2023

Oregon Coast, Sunday & Monday, August 20 & 21, 2023

A few months ago, I checked to see if there were any state park campsites available in August along the Oregon Coast.  The coast is popular in the summer, and things tend to fill up quickly.  But surprisingly, there was a five day stretch available on the central coast!

I headed down on Sunday, and was there until Friday.  I had the chance to walk the beaches, look for agates, visit some breweries and restaurants, and enjoy the beauty of the Oregon Coast.  It was so relaxing and peaceful (other than the drives there and back!).

My first day, I drove down and went to Astoria, Oregon.  I got there shortly before three, and went to Buoy Beer Company.  They are operating temporarily out of a smaller space in downtown Astoria, after the roof on the brewing facility and restaurant on the pier partially collapsed into the river in June of 2022.  Repairs are underway.

I ordered the fish and chips and a beer, and both were delicious!  I was so hungry that I forgot to take a picture of my meal!

I still had several hours to go to get down to my campground at Beverly Beach, so as much as I wanted to spend more time in Astoria, I had to get back on the road.  There was a traffic backup for a bit, but I finally got there at 7:30, and set up camp.  I had just a little bit of time to check out the beach in the fading light before snuggling into bed for the night!

My first morning, I woke up after a fitful night’s sleep.  It was windy all night and cold.  I got up, and decided to check out some beaches. 

I went north, and poked around at some beaches between Newport and Lincoln City.  It was almost all sand, which is typical for summer, but no gravel means no agates.  I did find a few little ones, and saw some beautiful beach views.  I had lunch at Pelican Brewing, and my cheeseburger and Hazestack IPA were delicious! 

Gleneden Access

Me Gleneden

Pelican Brewing Cheeseburger

Pelican View

Roads End Rock View

Roads End Driftwood

I made dinner at the campground, and had a walk on the beach in the evening.  All that beach walking made for a 22,000 step day on my FitBit!  What a wonderful couple of days!